Residential Construction Numbers Out for March 2013

Building permits: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 902,000. This is 3.9% below the revised February rate of 939,000, but is 17.3% above the March 2012 estimate of 769,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 595,000; a 0.5% below the revised February figure of 598,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 283,000 in March.

Housing starts: Privately owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000. This is 7.0% above the revised February estimate of 968,000 and is 46.7% above the March 2012 rate of 706,000. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 619,000; this is 4.8% below the revised February figure of 650,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 392,000.

Housing completions: Privately owned housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 800,000. This is 11.0% above the revised February estimate of 721,000 and is 36.3% above the March 2012 rate of 587,000. Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 593,000; this is 2.6% above the revised February rate of 578,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 202,000.